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@dancing james
GOVERNANCE – SETTING UP A COMMITTEE
To run your group efficiently you will have to form a Management Committ
ee (sometimes known as
the Executive Committee). This is the group of
people who are ultimately responsible for the
running of the group/organisation. It manages the group’s affairs on behalf of t
he members and is
answerable to them.
The committee members have a responsibility to work together and to take d
ecisions and share
the responsibility for these decisions and actions. If your group/organisatio
n becomes a registered
charity, the committee members will then also become trustees of that c
harity. Most groups/
organisations who set up do not need to have charity status as the constitution provides
the
recognised legal status.
The committee is drawn from members of the group and is elected by them, us
ually at an Annual
General Meeting (AGM). They may be elected by the full membership at the AGM or
by the
committee at its first meeting, according to the constitution. Alt
hough the officers carry out
particular jobs in the group, they have no more legal or financial responsibilities
than other
committee members.
The work of the committee will include:
•
meeting regularly and ensuring members are kept informed of dates/venues.
•
managing finances, agreeing a budget, and a fundraising strategy.
•
making sure the organisation is properly insured and also stays within the l
aw.
•
managing volunteers and employees (if applicable) and ensuring appropriate policies
are in
place; also developing other policies, e.g. Health & Safety and Equal Opportunities
monitoring and evaluating projects and activities.
•
having a shared vision and agreement about why the organisation has been set-up includin
g
clear roles, responsibilities, short and long term goals.
•
a willingness to work together, plan projects and set targets.
•
making sure the group does what it was set up to do, has enough money, does not go
into
debt and is well run.
How to Develop a Community Group : page 6
The committee may also invite other people to serve on the committee (known as c
o-opting). They
may be members of the group but can come from outside, and are generally co-
opted because
they have particular skills or knowledge, but do not always have voting right
s (depends on what
your constitution says).
A very small group may meet informally and have no elected committee. Many g
roups with modest
aims and activities run very successfully like this. In this instance,
the entire group is the
‘management committee’ and everyone is responsible for the group’s affairs
. It is usual, however,
that funders will only fund groups with at least three officers on the managem
ent committee.
Although every committee member shares responsibility, this does not mean that
each member
has to do everything. The job of members is to ensure that someone does each task
and reports
back. The tasks may be done by committee members, members of the group or people fr
om
outside. The most important thing is that the committee should work toge
ther and take joint
responsibility.
Most committees will include members who have special responsibilities and rol
es including a
Chair, Vice Chair,
Secretary and Treasurer
. It is important that members who take up these
roles understand their positions and the responsibility that goes with it.
The Chairperson
•
•
•
•
•
rs and helps
resolve conflict
They need to be able to: clarify, explain, lead, control, summarise, be object
ive and unbiased,
avoid taking over, explain points and items where necessary, be prepared to alter t
he order of the
agenda, make sure everyone has the chance to speak, discourage separate discussions
, ensure
that all members know what they are voting for, regularly sum up what has
been decided and
check that everyone is in agreement.
The Secretary
The tasks of the Secretary may include the following:
•
•
eeting
•
•
son) and
inform the group of any correspondence received
•
•
•
ittee
•
The Treasurer
The tasks of the Treasurer may include:
•
counts. This
could mean arranging for an external examination of records in line with the gr
oup’s
constitution
•
ved
•
mandates up-to-date
•
•
lar basis
•
given time
•
f year
accounts
•
can be
seen to have been used correctly
•
Although the Treasurer is responsible for preparing a draft budget and reporting r
egularly, the full
committee has a responsibility to: agree the budget and allocation of money; make g
rant
applications; and chase committee members for receipts.
Some people may ask why a meeting needs to be formal and structured including takin
g minutes.
This is important for a number of reasons
•
To make sure all management committee members have had the chance to discuss an
issue
•
To help resolve conflict and avoid confusion
•
To prevent 1 or 2 people dominating the group
•
To demonstrate good, democratic management
A more structured meeting allows everyone to get involved in a discussion and tak
e a decision –
by law all members are collectively responsible for what happens in the group’
s name.
a) Regular General Meeting
These are the regular meetings a group has to discuss what they are doing. It is
generally
accepted that a management committee should meet at least 4 times a year but many meet
more
regularly, particularly if planning a lot of events or activities. D
ates for meetings should be agreed
some time ahead so everyone can get the date in their diary.
b) Annual General Meeting (AGM)
An AGM is a yearly meeting of the group or organisation’s full membershi
p. It is a chance for
everyone to hear from the people it has elected to run the organisation (the management
committee). It needs to be held every year and all members need to be invited
(how you define
members will be agreed in your governing document). You can also invite mem
bers of the
general public but only full members will be able to vote.
You need to give enough notice of your AGM (this will be stated in your governing doc
ument) – by
an advert in the local paper, poster on community centre notice board or in w
riting, for instance.
There are some formal items that need to be on your Agenda as the AGM is the tim
e when
Management Committee members stand down and are re-elected. The agenda is th
us
a. Chair
b. Secretary
c. Other committee members
c) Quorum
A committee must be “quorate” to conduct business. This means there must be
a certain number
of committee members at the meeting for decisions to be made. The number of
people required to
make a quorum will be covered in your governing document and is usually related to
the total
number of people on the committee. We recommend this is at least 3 (for groups o
f say 8
members). If not enough people attend you should not proceed with the meeting and will need
to
call another one.
d) Agenda
It is always useful to have an agenda for the meeting so you remember to cover
all the key items.
These usually follow the same format for each meeting, adding new items as sub-
headings if they
need to be raised at a particular meeting. An example is given below with the
suggested headings
in bold.
THE ABC GROUP
Management Committee Meeting
May 23
rd
2011 7.00 pm
The Green Community Building
Welcome, Attendance and Apologies
. You need to keep a list of who was there. If a
committee member is not able to attend they need to send their apologies.
Approval of minutes of the last meeting
. You need to review the minutes and make
sure they are accurate. If they are correct, the Chairman should sign and date t
he
printed minutes and then the secretary should keep a copy. If some items are
inaccurate then a note needs to be made and noted in the minutes of the current
meeting. The chair still signs them but with a note saying “wit
h amendments.”
Matters Arising
. If there are minor items on the previous minutes that need discussing
or updating, do this now. As the agenda is the same for most meetings, many
of the
items can wait to be discussed under the headings below.
Secretary’s report / correspondence
administrative matters.
Treasurer’s Report
. Each meeting should have a financial update from the treasurer
showing income / expenditure / bank balances.
Item 1, 2, 3 etc:
this is where you discuss other key elements of your group’s work.
The headings will vary according to the group but might be: forthcoming ev
ents,
membership, marketing etc.
Any other business
. This allows members to raise short topics that have not been
discussed or raised in the meeting.
Date of next meeting
. It is best practice to agree at least the next meeting, if not
further in advance.
Taking Minutes
Taking minutes is an important part of the job, and can be a bit daunting when
you first start.
Minutes are simply notes taken during the meeting to remind you what was di
scussed and agreed.
They are important because:
•
It is useful to have a written record of the meeting, what you’ve decided
to do and who is
going to do it – memories are unreliable! This is true even if the meeting
is very small and
informal.
•
Minutes keep members of the group who weren’t able to attend a meeting inf
ormed about
what went on.
Minutes need to include some key details
•
•
•
•
•
•
It is always important to take note of any actions that are agreed and w
ho is going to do them by
being as specific as possible i.e. Andy agreed to check the price of the hal
l and ring the treasurer
by Friday.
The minutes don’t need to be long or complicated, in fancy language or perfect gr
ammar. They do
need to record clearly and simply what decisions were made at the meeting and who is
going to
carry them out. Many groups make the mistake of writing down all the c
onversations that take
place in a meeting but all that is really needed is the key points and the actions.
No personal
remarks should be included in the minutes.
An example is given below:
We started the meeting and John and Brenda started to discuss the last meeting.
The minutes
said that John was meant to be producing a poster but he said he was sure it was not hi
m and, if it
was him, he had not done it. He was not happy that his name had been put down as he had not
offered to do it. Then Brenda said that she thought Sue had offered so they
asked her and she
said yes, she had done a draft and she had copies with her for people to look at. J
ohn said he was
happy that it was not him.
Compare that with the following:
The minutes from the previous meeting said that John was to draft a poster
but it was actually Sue.
She produced a draft that people commented on.
e) Term of office
Election of management committee members is key. The length of time a
member can sit on the
committee is called a “term of office”. This is often 1-3 years be
fore needing to stand for re-
election. When this term comes to an end they need to “stand down” but can be re-elected
if they
put their name forward again. The committee needs to inform the membership
who is standing
down and who is prepared to stand again. They should also ask the full membership if
anyone
else wants to stand. At the AGM all members present have the right to
vote. You can decide how
the votes take place – show of hands, writing voting slips etc.